Legacy: the long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, etc. that took place in the past, or of a person’s life.

A Loved Bible is full of notes, prayers, highlights, etc. and is used as a tool to help make disciples. A Legacy Loved Bible might be for your child, grandchild, someone you mentor, a teen you have discipled, the list could go on and on. A parent, grandparent, or mentor would create this Bible with the intent that the recipient would use it throughout their lifetime. When my husband’s grandfather died, the only heirloom my husband wanted was his grandfather’s Bible. It was filled with notes and records of God’s faithfulness beautifully displaying the legacy of his grandfather’s faith. This is such a meaningful record for him to cherish! I desired to create something similar for our five daughters, so I have been working on Legacy Loved Bibles for each of them.

Creating a Legacy Loved Bible

How to Get Started:

The first thing you will want to do is read our Getting Started Guide.

What Type of Bible?

Since this is a Bible you hope your recipient will use long term, you may want to purchase a non-compact Bible. There are a variety of options, features, and price points. Here are a few:

• The CSB Spurgeon Study Bible: contains study notes and quotes from Charles Spurgeon.
• ESV Women’s Study Bible: contains study notes and reflections from many great teachers and authors.
• ESV Legacy Bible: no study notes but generous margins for notes and at a 6×9 size it is easy to bring along to church or Bible study.
• ESV Journaling Bible or NIV Journaling Bible: Both of these Bibles feature wide margins and come in various cover choices.
• CSB She Reads Truth Bible: contains devotionals, wide margins, and comes in a variety of cover styles.
• Scriptura Bibles has a number of heirloom quality Bibles that would be perfect for a Legacy Loved Bible.
• You may want to look for a Bible with large margins if you hope to write prayers/notes in the margin.

Who should I give a legacy Loved Bible?

• Your children
• Grandchildren
• Other family members
• Someone you have mentored or discipled

What TLBP Resources Should I Use in my Legacy Loved Bible?

• The Foundations Workbook: We recommend you start all Loved Bibles using the Foundations Workbook. This gives an overview of the gospel and how the gospel is for all of life. The gospel saves us, sanctifies (grows) us, and sustains us (we never grow out of our need). Include a few (or many!) of the recommended Scriptures for each question. There are usually about 50 entries in total. As you repeatedly go through this process, you begin to rehearse and memorize the Scriptures and their meanings, helping you to grow as a disciple-maker.
• The Attributes of God Worksheet: Attributes are words that tell us what someone or something is like. When we read the Bible, we learn the attributes of God. God tells us who He is and what He is like. Every story, person, place, and event in the Bible is true and helps us learn who God is.  
• The Story of Scripture: Grab a few note cards and an envelope! You can write out the foundations of this unifying story and stick it in the front of your Loved Bible. We love the way Harvey Turner unpacked it in his book, Friend of Sinners.

Add notes to the Recipient on Significant Occasions:

1. On each birthday
2. After a family vacation
3. First day of kindergarten
4. When he or she is dedicated/baptized
5. When he or she becomes a teen
6. When he or she goes on a mission trip
7. If he or she has a major surgery
8. When he or she graduates high school

Write out your prayers for your child/recipient: Use a legacy Bible as a prayer journal. As you pray for your child/recipient, write those prayers in the margin of the Bible or on a sticky note. Practice praying Scriptures over your child/recipient and highlight the Scripture and add a note nearby.

Ask special people in his or her life to share a verse they would like you to include.  You can highlight the verse and write their initials/name next to it. If desired, they could create a special note to put on that page.

Use a daily devotional and capture your notes and notes and prayers. My husband and I have been using New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp as a daily devotional each year ever since it was released. When the kids have been in the car on the way to school, we also listen to the given day though an audio version. Now that I’m creating legacy Loved Bibles, I’m adding notes and favorite quotes.

Other Resources You Suggest to Use for the Legacy Bible (some are directed at parents but can be used to pray for discipling others

• 5 Things to Pray for Your Kids by Melissa Kruger
• Pray the Word Podcast with David Platt
• The One Year-Praying Through the Bible For Your Kids by Nancy Guthrie

When to Give the Bible Away?

• When he or she is baptized
• High school graduation
• College graduation
• When he or she gets married. Jared Wilson gave a Bible filled with 14 years of notes to his daughter before her wedding.
• When he or she moves out

If you have any questions, please email us at info@lovedbibleproject.com.